


Reunion

by demiclar



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Drifter being soft because I know we all love it from him, I will give a solid effort to finish this but who knows if it will happen, Nonbinary Guardian for your preference, Other, The Guardian - Freeform, The Guardian is always stressed out and that's just how it is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29363841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demiclar/pseuds/demiclar
Summary: The Guardian finds Drifter in a moment of quiet, bearing questions and uncertainty. Drifter's never as open as he could be, but for his Guardian, he does his best.
Relationships: The Drifter/Nonbinary Guardian (Destiny)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Reunion

Drifter wasn’t quite sure why his heart rate picked up at the sound of the Guardian’s footsteps echoing down the hall. He wasn’t quite sure he wanted to know. He _certainly_ didn’t want to know how he’d learned their footsteps. Still, he couldn’t bat the anxious feeling he got in his gut when they rounded the corner and ducked into his empty shop. He’d been about to close up, it was still early, but he couldn’t focus, couldn’t think straight. His mind had been going at a mile a minute for all the hours he’d been down here, until now, until the Guardian ducked around the grate he’d pulled halfway shut and his mind narrowed down to just them, and all the anxious thoughts they awoke within him.

The Guardian looked _tired._ Hell, they always did these days, but there was a weight in their stare, their face looked drained, their eyes not as open as they usually were, their face looking older, almost…sad. But there was a determination in it as well. He’d almost call it anger, but given that the Guardian had come here, to see him…he hoped it wasn’t anger. He hadn’t really spoken to them much since they’d been on Europa, and that whole situation had been volatile at best. If the Guardian wanted to come to speak to him about the Darkness, he wasn’t even sure he’d be ready for that conversation.

But the Guardian stopped just past the grate, holding his stare with their tired eyes. Drifter waited, but they said nothing.

After the silence went on for so long all Drifter could hear was the sound of his heart pounding, he kicked himself back to what he knew, drawing a coin from his pocket and flipping it in the air as he cast the Guardian a devilish grin.

“Here to play some gambit?” He asked them, and he couldn’t say he didn’t expect the Guardian’s cold expression.

“No.” They answered flatly, and Drifter wasn’t sure why he flicked the coin at them, but he did, watching the Guardian snatch it out of the air and into a fist well before it could hit them, the movement perfectly easy. He still didn’t doubt they were tired, but it at least proved they were better than they looked. Drifter turned away from them as if he hadn’t done anything.

“Well shit then, Guardian, what are you here for?” He asked them, attempting to look busy as he put in a half-assed effort at tidying his workspace. Drifter only kept things as neat as necessary, which meant that if an item was potentially dangerous, the workspace around it was spotless, and if it wasn’t, then it wasn’t worth his time.

“I’m closin’ up, so make it quick.” He added when they didn’t immediately speak. As if he’d ever not have time for them, as if he actually had somewhere else to be besides in the derelict amid the guts of any machine that could occupy his mind enough to keep it from wandering.

“The visions you had about the pyramids, about the Darkness,” the Guardian began, and he instantly longed to be anywhere but where his feet were planted on the cold metal floors of his shop, his hands resting on the table before him. He had to make a conscious effort not to ball them into fists. “Are you still having them?”

“No.” He answered, just as flatly as the Guardian had just said the word. It was true, the visions that haunted him now were much worse. He hoped they were only nightmares, but he could never be sure, not anymore. The Guardian let out a little sigh, and he glanced back to face them.

“Why’re you asking?” He asked a moment later, turning around to lean a hip against the table, his arms crossing easily over his chest as he eyed the Guardian warily.

“I—” The Guardian shrunk under his gaze, stiffening before they released some of the tension and let out another sigh. “Ever since I got to Europa, I’ve been having dreams. I’m not sure if they’re visions or not. I was wondering if you’d seen anything similar.”

“Can’t say I have.” He answered. Lies. Potentially, at least. But he didn’t need anyone else in his head. “What’re you seein’ in ‘em?” He asked, arms still crossed.

“I don’t know.” The Guardian murmured. The were quiet under his stare, small. Whatever these dreams were, they must’ve been bad. The Guardian didn’t normally cringe under his gaze. “I can’t remember much of them, but what I can isn’t…visual. It’s more tactile, auditory. I hear screams, feel Darkness. And Light…dying.”

A shudder tore through the Guardian at that, hardly contained, it shook their shoulders heavily, had them curling in on themselves a little, their movements shaky, almost pained.

“Like I said, I don’t know if they’re visions. They could just be nightmares. I’ve been getting those a lot lately. I have them most nights I’m not with you.”

Their voice was weak when they spoke, and their words sent a stab of guilt into Drifter’s chest. They hadn’t spent the night together since before he’d left for Europa. Months ago. They hadn’t managed a proper reunion on Europa, not with how busy they’d been, and then the Guardian had been working with Crow—he couldn’t imagine how _that_ was for them—their lives had just become so hectic, their priorities had shifted. Drifter had regretted it more than once; he just hadn’t had the nerve to do something about it.

He let out a breath as he pushed himself off the table and stepped towards the Guardian at last.

“Well, like I said, I’m closin’ up.” He told them, and he watched something in the Guardian’s eyes gutter as he stepped around them and set to his usual little clean-up before he left for the derelict. He pretended not to notice. “But, if ya want, you could come to the derelict with me. Talk it over. If you’re not busy taking down a Cabal empire, that is.”

He glanced back to face them. He’d nearly gone to turn off the umbral decoder and recaster, both gone now after a deal he’d struck with the Vanguard. He did his best to play off the movement, but the Guardian didn’t seem to notice, they only looked down and away from his face.

“I…don’t want to talk about it.” They said, so quiet he almost didn’t hear them. “But I’m not busy.”

The second part was said with a little bit of hope, and Drifter wasn’t sure if he was being lied to or not, but he smiled anyway. He felt himself let out a little chuckle.

“Classic.” He muttered, half to himself before addressing them again. “Come anyway. Got a feelin’ we could both use a little company.”

He wasn’t sure what it was he saw in the Guardian’s eyes at his words. Relief, maybe. The sight sent old fear prickling in him, but he brushed it off, giving them a little smile. Drifter had decided a long time ago that this Guardian was special. Time had made him wary, but he’d push it off for them, any time he could manage it.


End file.
